2011 Toyota Sienna XLE AWD

A top-notch family hauler, and the best minivan on the market—for now.

If you want to gauge how successful a minivan is, talk to the occupants of the second-row seats. If they say they would be happy to schlep across the country in the vehicle, you know the van’s maker got the recipe just about right. That was the case with my 12-year-old twins as they lounged in the reclining captain’s chairs in the Sienna XLE, viewing their favorite media on a large, 16.4-inch-wide screen.

The previous Toyota Sienna wasn’t a bad vehicle, but it wasn’t as good to drive or as well packaged as the Honda Odyssey. This latest van rides on the same 119.3-inch wheelbase as the outgoing Sienna but is 0.8 inch shorter and 0.8 inch wider (coming in at 200.2 inches and 78.2 inches, respectively). It is the same height overall, though, at 68.9 inches. We would describe the redesign as distinctive, but the front end is pretty brutal.

Underpinning the new sheetmetal is the same torsion-beam-rear and strut-front suspension as before, and Toyota has added a four-cylinder option to the powertrain lineup. This 2.7-liter, inline four-cylinder engine is good for 187 hp and 186 lb-ft of torque and drives the front wheels via a new six-speed automatic transmission. We suspect the trade-off for better gas mileage is slothlike acceleration. Our XLE example was powered by Toyota’s familiar 3.5-liter V-6 engine, making the same 265 hp and 245 lb-ft of torque as before. It has the new six-speed automatic in place of the previous vehicle’s five-speed. Models with the V-6 engine can be ordered with the all-wheel-drive system we drove, which carries about a $2000 premium depending on trim level.

The XLE starts at $35,315 before adding the XLE Premium package, a $6225 option that includes touchscreen DVD navigation, a rear-seat entertainment system, rear parking sensors, a 10-speaker JBL stereo with Bluetooth phone connectivity, and keyless entry and pushbutton start. The XLE comes pretty well equipped as standard, with first- and second-row leather seats, heated front seats, power-sliding side doors, a power rear hatch, a power sunroof, and tri-zone climate control. Our test vehicle stickered for $42,211, about what you would expect to pay for an uplevel van these days.

The Good Kind of Nanny Tech: It Keeps the Kids from Fighting

The interior is a pleasant environment, although there is evidence of cost cutting in some of the hard plastic pieces. The front seats give a commanding view of the road ahead, the gauges and the center stack are nicely arrayed, and the navigation system is as easy to operate as a light switch. Out back, our seven-seat Sienna was almost as voluminous as the author’s basement. The third-row seat folds and stows easily in a well that Toyota says facilitates loading five golf bags or four large suitcases with the rear seat up.

The second-row seats recline and have extending footrests. They slide fore-and-aft nearly two feet, although we’d suggest hiring a gorilla to remove them because they’re heavy. With the third row folded flat and the second-row seats removed, Toyota says the floor space measures approximately eight feet by four feet. A go-kart would easily fit, and the space combines with a low load floor to make this minivan more accommodating for cargo than any SUV we can think of. The sliding center console is enormous and extends to the second row.

The rear-seat entertainment system uses a single 16.4-inch-wide screen that can display two sources, or one if your kids are getting along. It’s certainly nice that if one kid decides his sister’s movie is sappy beyond belief, he can switch on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and blast away to his heart’s content on the other half of the screen. Like most of these systems, wireless headphones isolate unwanted noise from the grown-ups riding in front. In terms of features and interior space, the Sienna checks all the boxes. We’d like center-row seats that fold into the floor like a Chrysler minivan’s, but it’s hard to argue with the comfort afforded by the bulkier but more conventional seats in this Sienna.

Drives Well Enough for the Minivan Crowd

The Sienna drives nicely enough, which is all minivan owners ask of their vehicles. The V-6 engine is a sweetheart, as smooth as Velveeta and almost as unassuming. This Sienna wasn’t quite as spry off the mark as the last AWD Sienna we tested, reaching 60 mph from rest in 7.8 seconds compared with 7.4. (The previous all-wheel-drive Sienna we tested had the same power and was 126 pounds lighter.) Top speed is electronically governed at 115 mph.

Other data gleaned at the test track included a skidpad figure of 0.76 g, up 0.02 on the old model, and 70-to-0-mph braking in 186 feet, a couple feet better than the previous Sienna and a foot shorter than the last Odyssey we tested. According to the EPA, the 2011 all-wheel-drive, V-6–only Sienna gets 16 mpg in the city and 22 mpg on the highway, whereas the 2010 model was rated at 16/21. The Car and Driver leadfoot squad eked out an overall figure of 19 mpg while the vehicle was in our hands, 2 mpg better than we achieved with the previous V-6 AWD Sienna.

Dynamically, the Sienna is a lot more buttoned down than the floaty old vehicle and most of the rest of Toyota’s current lineup. The electric power steering has decent road feel and accuracy, the brake pedal is progressive, and body roll in corners is well controlled (for a minivan). The compromise is that the ride is quite firm, although it’s never uncomfortable. Toyota offers a more aggressive SE model, but we think a sporty minivan is pretty dumb.

Overall, this is a top-notch minivan. It drives well and has a versatile and spacious interior with all the equipment needed to keep children occupied on long road trips. It is priced a little higher than the domestic opposition from Chrysler and Dodge, but it is a better product. At the moment, we think it’s better than the Odyssey, but that could change soon: An all-new Odyssey debuts this fall, followed in early 2011 by a new Nissan Quest.